#hero writing

[caker-baker]

Peace

“You look beautiful.” The villain murmured, their lips light above the hero’s knuckles before letting go.

“You look hideous.”

It warranted a laugh from the villain, leaving the hero to wonder what was humorous in this situation.

“Shall we?” The villain extended a hand.

And in those fineries that the villain had prepared for them, the hero knew there was no other option than to take the hand, and to dance.

Dance they did, gliding across the floor in a beautiful grace, one might be breathless if they were actually watching.

But the hero knew that they weren’t watching, they were just there, dolls under the villain’s control.

“Do you have to have them here?”

“The other villains and heroes? Yes, I want them to see you.”

“But they don’t see me, not really, not when you’re in their heads.”

The villain made a humming sound, thinking of how best to phrase it.

“Think of it like a trance, they are there, they just can’t move.”

Ah, the hero was wrong. It just made the villain’s ability more horrifying, knowing that their friends were in there somewhere, trapped and waiting to get out, waiting for someone to save them.

And save them they would, the hero just needed to keep dancing.

So they let themselves be dipped, twirled, waltzed around while some lovely orchestra played some lovely song.

“Wouldn’t it be easier to do that to me?” The hero asked. “Rather than…” they couldn’t say it.

“Control the rest?” The villain could say it, of course they could. “I guess it would be. But I don’t want to, not to you. I respect you too much. I love you too much.”

“Don’t say that.”

The lovely song ended.

“What shall I say instead?”

“Say that you’ll let them go.” The hero pleaded. “Say that you’ll end it all.”

Another lovely song began, and the hero, somewhere in the back of their mind, wondered if the orchestra was also controlled by the villain, or if they were just paid handsomely.

The villain didn’t speak for a moment, they simply pulled the hero into another dance.

“I could have taken this whole city by storm.” They began. “I could have each and every civilian in my mind’s influence, and it would be painfully easy. Is that what I’m doing? No. I’m dancing with the person I want, in the place I want, surrounded by people we consider friends, the people who fight pointlessly. I want them to see that I could have stopped them all, that the fighting isn’t a choice so long as I’m here. The city’s greatest enemies in the same room together, and they have no choice but to listen. I’m not a villain, Hero.”

Ok, maybe the villain wasn’t doing the worst thing they could have been doing, but it didn’t make their methods anymore right. It didn’t make this right.

“And you think this is how you get it done? What’s next, world peace?”

“I don’t care about the rest of the world, I care about my corner, I care about this city.”

The second lovely song ended.

“Now what?”

“Now, there’s no more squabbling, they know that there will be consequences.” The villain shot the crowd of heroes and villains a look. “Now, I love how I like, and how I like is with you.”

The hero really didn’t know how to respond, so the villain continued.

“Do you remember fighting me? Back when I could only control one person at a time? The others,” they motioned to the heroes. “always had a group of four, for when I inevitably turned one against the rest. You came alone, you didn’t want to fight your own team, so you faced me by yourself. I knew I couldn’t control you then and there, I would never want to risk destroying the compassion and personality that I so rarely see in the others.”

The hero frowned. “The others have personality, compassion, kindness. That isn’t unique to me.”

In turn, the villain stared. “I’m in their heads, Hero. You shouldn’t lie to me on their behalf. I know the things they think, the anger they have, especially towards you.”

That made the hero step back. “Towards me?”

“They assumed I held my punches when it came to you. It didn’t matter if every other villain didn’t, because I did, and that was enough to earn their…hatred isn’t it, but it’s turning to hate now, as they see you with me, not stuck like them.”

“I didn’t ask you to let me go free.”

“Did you hear that?” The villain said, the message directed towards the frozen crowd, all the while still looking at the hero. “They didn’t ask for my affections, nor did they ask me to do this to you.”

The hero didn’t want to ask, but they wanted to know. “Do they still hate me?” And then another thought crossed their mind. “Or are you lying to me so that I’m swayed to your side?”

“There are no sides, Hero, that’s my whole point.”

They held out their hand for another dance, but the hero refused.

“Let them go, please.”

The villain cast a sweeping glance towards the crowd.

“And you will stay with me?”

“Yes.”

“Then it is as you wish.”

The crowd began to move again, some in marionette like movements, jerky and delayed, others more fluid, jumping back into the motion denied to them like an old friend.

But no one attacked each other, no one went towards the villain or the hero, no one dared to cross the one who could easily take control like that again.

“My gift to you, peace in the city. And now, we dance.”

The hero took the villain’s hand.

A third lovely song began.

#villain #hero x villain #hero #heroine #snippet #villain x hero #heroes and villains #villainess #writing #heroes #this one was in the drafts so #until I finish some requests and the leaf one #hero writing #villain writes #villain writing #hero writes #mind control #mind control snippet #no editing we die like men #currently digging the grave as we speak #but aha! Twas all a ruse! we aren’t speaking at all! #I’m sorry I think the melatonin is working

[chaotic-orphan]

VENDETTA IS 💃🏽💅✨❤️‍🔥🔥 SCRUMPTIOUS (I heavily dislike emojis so me using them at all really says something)

Vendetta: part V

Read part one here Continued from here

First of all I want to thank everyone for their support with this series, it is my little baby and I love Hero and Vigilante so much, I'm glad you like them too!

My exams for college start on the 12th until the 21st so this will (probably) be my last update until Christmas time where I plan on bulk writing and publishing weekly, or bi-weekly, updates to series so I will put a poll up tomorrow where you can vote for what series are your favourite to let me know which ones to spend more time on.

Thank you again for all your kind words for vendetta, but especially this anon whose comment made me giggle. Enjoy!

*~*~*~*~*

“Hero.”

Hero didn’t stir.

“Hero.”

Hero was comfortable. Warm. Cozy. They didn’t want to move, they really didn’t.

“Hero,” more pressing this time and Hero let out a sigh.

“Mmm?”

A hand was in their hair then on their cheek, gentle and soothing and warm.

“Open your eyes,” the sweet voice coaxed and Hero obeyed. They were met with two brown eyes so dark they looked black in the dim hut. “There. Now. Show me where you are.”

Hero froze as they became fully conscious and the hand on their cheek went to their chin, gripping it hard and wrenching Hero’s head up.

Hero recoiled back suddenly, squeezing their eyes shut and it felt like they were falling, falling, falling.

“HERO!”

Hero gasped awake, heart drumming in their ears like an unending drone as they sat up suddenly away from Vigilante’s arms.

“Hey. Hey, Hero. It’s okay! It was just a nightmare. You were screaming, it’s okay. I’m sorry I startled you, c’mere.”

Hero was drawn back into Vigilante’s warmth. They were shaking like a leaf, tongue heavy and obstructive in their mouth, unable to form words or a coherent sentence.

“Sssh, it’s okay. I got you.”

Hero sat in Vigilante’s arms for a minute or two, calming their breathing before they spoke.

“I must’ve fallen asleep,” they mumbled and Vigilante squeezed Hero tighter to them, pressing a kiss into their hair.

“I did too,” Vigilante admitted. “It’s not the worst thing for healing, you know.”

“I know but— Supervillain… they were here.”

Vigilante stiffened behind Hero. “What?”

“They— I mean, it felt like they were here. I could have sworn he was… I mean it was probably just a nightmare, but it felt so real.”

Vigilante moved their hand from where it wrapped around Hero, moving their hand to rest on Hero’s cheek, turning them to face them. They smiled down at Hero, and then pressed a soft kiss against their lips. It was short and sweet and it made Hero feel safe and loved.

“We’ll get Supervillain, Hero. We won’t let him win.”

Hero tried for a smile and failed, instead they nodded, “I know. We should get moving. Try and find Superhero.”

“Okay.”

Vigilante released Hero and Hero leaned forward, looking down at their knee. The bandage was bloodstained already. How long were they asleep? It was daylight outside again, shining into their little trench hut.

“I should change the bandages before we go again,” said Hero. Vigilante was off the bed and got the med kit returning it to Hero. “Thank you.”

“Just tell me what you need me to do.”

Hero’s heart fluttered at Vigilante’s easy words.

They changed the bandages quickly, quicker than last time anyways. Vigilante’s hands were a little more sure and when they wiped the wound Hero was happy enough that the wound wasn’t going to get infected. They would be fine.

Everything would be fine.

They just needed to find Superhero and regroup.

Everything would be fine.

Vigilante handed Hero their twin scabbards harness which they affixed to their back and hip. Hero released a content sigh when the weight of their twin blades returned. It felt like they could do anything with them and Vigilante by their side.

Vigilante lead the way out of the hut and fashioned an invisible ramp that they walked up and onto the battleground again.

It was eerily silent.

There was no noise. No bullets flying or screaming or crying or anything, it was just… quiet. Hero looked over to where they fought Assassin and saw her lying still in a pool of black blood.

“Where do you think Superhero will be?” Vigilante asked, glancing to Hero and following their line of sight to Assassin. Vigilante stepped between Hero and Assassin’s body, reaching forward and tilting Hero’s chin up. “Hey. It’s okay, Hero. I need you to focus.”

Hero blinked at Vigilante. When the words registered in their brain they sighed and shook their head. This wasn’t the time to get emotional.

“Right. Sorry… they weren’t at the Guild, which means— well, I thought it meant that they would be out fighting here, but…”

“But there’s no one here,” Vigilante said.

“Yeah. Which now makes me think our best bet would be the Guild.”

Vigilante frowned. “Do you think they’re still alive?”

“They have to be,” Hero said. “Plus I don’t think Supervillain would be private or gracious if they killed Superhero. If Superhero was dead, Supervillain would probably have them hung on a flagpole or something outside the Guild.”

“But what about all the villains that swarmed the guild? Didn’t you say there was an evacuation plan?”

“I— yes,” Hero sighed, rubbing their eyes. “But I think… I think it’s our best option. Our only option. I’d rather take on a swarm of Villains than be out here and searching for Superhero who we may not even find. There’s still Heroes at the guild. If Superhero’s not there maybe we can help them instead.”

“Okay. Back to the Guild then.”

Hero nodded. “Yeah.”

Hero stepped forward but was stopped by Vigilante’s hand snaking around their waist and turning them to face Vigilante who smiled their cheeky smile down at Hero. The smile was contagious, goofy, and Vigilante looked so young in that moment. As if they were just on a hike with a date and wanted to be romantic in the natural scenery. They pressed a hand to Hero’s cheek, thumb under Hero’s chin tilting their head up and leaning down to kiss them.

Hero almost floated when their lips met. It was gentle and soothing, then it was passionate and aggressive so much so that Hero thought Vigilante’s lips would leave a bruise on Hero’s but they didn’t care. They responded in kind, wrapping their arms around Vigilante’s neck and drawing them closer, a hand going to Vigilante’s hair and Hero smiled against Vigilante’s lips as they felt Vigilante nearly float away too.

It was everything they couldn’t say to each other. Something words wouldn’t cover properly or even hint at. Vigilante nipped at Hero’s lower lip and Hero opened their mouth willingly, letting Vigilante deepen the kiss, wanting to stay here like this forever.

The certainty of being wanted, and knowing exactly what they wanted. It was bliss.

Everything they needed in their embrace, between their breaths, their lips, tongues and touch.

Hero could have died in that hut and being with Vigilante in that moment was heaven. No worries, no concerns, only that passionate certainty.

But they were still alive.

They still needed to breathe.

Vigilante was the one to break the kiss, pressing their forehead against Hero’s, their soft breath fanning Hero’s cheeks.

“I love you, Hero,” said Vigilante, tightening their grip on Hero’s waist. “I want you to know that. In case—”

“In case nothing,” Hero replied. Not even daring to think like that for a second. “You’re the only person I’ve ever loved. I love you more than the world, and if Supervillain wouldn’t have a hit out on me then I would have run away with you. Somewhere quiet. We could just be me and you, no heroes and villains and vigilantes. Just us.”

“Hero—” Vigilante said but it came out half sad, half strangled.

“No,” Hero sniffed. They didn’t realise they had been crying until then, because what if this was their last chance together? What if this was it forever? Hero had to say everything, everything they loved about Vigilante. They had to know just in case. “No, I need you to know.”

“I know,” Vigilante whispered, thumb wiping away the tears streaming down Hero’s face and sniffing in return. “I know. Maybe when all this is over, we can just give up. We can go. Together. Okay?”

“Yeah,” Hero sobbed and sniffed, trying to console themselves. “Yes.”

“Okay. We have a plan now. Guild first, save Superhero, defeat Supervillain and then retirement. Easy.”

“Easy,” Hero laughed, wiping their eyes with the back of their hand.

Vigilante took Hero’s hand in theirs and interlocked their fingers, and it felt like Hero was grounded. Back on earth, back in their body. There would be no just in case. Hero wouldn’t let Vigilante die. They tightened their grip on Vigilante’s hand.

Vigilante would live, Hero promised themselves then and there, even if Hero had to sacrifice themselves to make sure of it.

*~*~*~*~*

Without teleport they had to walk back to the Guild. They didn’t meet anyone on the way, no heroes or villains or anyone in between.

“Hero…”

“I know,” Hero said. “They’re probably all at the Guild.”

“Do you think Supervillain’s there?”

Hero swallowed. It felt like their throat was made of sandpaper, not wanting Hero to say the words out loud because then they would be true.

“Yeah. I do. I think he was there this morning.”

“This morning? You mean—”

“Yeah. When I saw him in my nightmare. He was in the hut with us, he wanted to see where I was. Tried to get me to open my eyes and show him.”

Vigilante stiffened as they walked, squeezing Hero’s hand in theirs. “Do you think he raided the Guild and when he realised you weren’t there—”

“Yeah. He looked for me another way.”

“Fuck.”

“It’s okay,” Hero said without any real meaning behind it. It wasn’t okay. None of this was okay. Their friends dying around them wasn’t okay, Doctor, who didn’t even fight, dying trying to protect Hero.

None of it was okay.

They didn’t voice any of these thoughts. What was the point? Vigilante knew, Hero knew. Still they walked hand in hand.

They continued in silence until they saw the lights from the Guild, the sun was only starting to set but it was still dark. The autumn blues bright, with shards of red glaring through the sky.

Hero’s shoulder twinged the closer they got to the building which used to bring Hero so much comfort. Its high walls and beautiful artwork. The Guilds magnificent marble arches and the colourful gardens where they trained. It was home, and right now home had fires burning the grass in the gardens and a giant hole went through the medical wing where Doctor’s body was.

All this for what?

How many dead?

“We’ll go through the medical wing,” said Vigilante, dragging Hero from their thoughts. Hero looked up at them, memorising the half far away expression on their face when they were thinking, planning. Vigilante caught Hero staring and shot them a grin. “It’s our best chance of not getting detected.”

“You’re probably right.”

“And if I’m wrong we’ll find out quickly.”

“Exactly.” Hero reached up and cupped Vigilante’s face in their hands bringing them down for a kiss. “I’ll never get tired of that.”

“I’ll hold you to it,” Vigilante said with mischief glinting like diamonds in their eyes. Hero pulled away but Vigilante caught their hand and kept it pressed against their cheek for a moment longer. The gesture damn near broke Hero’s heart. They were acting like they would never be able to do this again, and they can’t. They shouldn’t.

They can’t face Supervillain half defeated.

“We’ll win,” Hero told Vigilante. Vigilante pressed a kiss against Hero’s palm, and then their knuckles before giving it back.

“I know.”

They moved quickly after that, Vigilante leading the way, showing Hero the way down and how the Villains got in without being detected to blow the hole in the medical ward.

Hero swallowed down a sob when they saw Doctor's coat, a spear sticking from his chest. Vigilante was moving ahead of them, taking a sheet from the bed and draping it over Doctor's body.

"We'll bury him properly after, Hero," said Vigilante taking Hero's hand and gently pulling them forward passed Doctor’s body. "We need to keep moving."

“I know,” said Hero, resting their other hand on the hilt of their sword. They’d avenge Doctor.

When they got to the door, Hero cursed under their breath as they touched the solid wall. “Fuck. I forgot Medic sealed it when we were here.”

Vigilante kicked the door but it didn’t crack or break.

“They fused it to the wall, it’ll all be as solid as each other.”

“If only we had Bomber here now, huh?” Vigilante asked with a slight laugh. Hero let out a laughter of disbelief.

“I never thought I’d have to break into the Guild, but here we are.”

“Here we are,” Vigilante echoed with a cheeky grin.

“Here we are,” a third voice said behind them. Hero and Vigilante turned on their heel, eyes settling on Villain ahead of them. Hero drew their swords immediately, fear gripping their heart like a hand had reached through their ribs and squeezed it. “So nice to see you again, Hero. We didn’t get to finish our little conversation last time.”

Villain inclined his head at Vigilante, his chocolate curls falling over his forehead, a smile tugging at the corner of his lips. “Supervillain is not happy with you, Vigilante, but good news. You’re both to be brought in alive. Did we assume you were stupid enough to walk straight into the Guild? No, but the sentiment is appreciated.”

“Villain,” Vigilante said, voice calm and low. “You don't have to do this. We don’t have to fight.”

“Mmm,” Villain hummed, his deep melodic voice rumbling a vibration through the air. He lifted his chin higher, cool eyes holding Vigilante's gaze. “Vigilante… I want you to know… I liked you. You were one of the few people I could tolerate, but like? That’s a whole new level of betrayal.”

“Villain please," Vigilante pleaded with a cautious step forward, hands raised placatingly.

“If it’s any consolation I’ll ask Supervillain to spare you. Save your begging for him. That’s as far as my mercy will extend Vigilante...” Villain said, their voice didn’t break but there was some kind of emotion at the back of it that Hero couldn’t identify. Villain's eyes went to Hero. “Then again... I don’t know if it will be considered a mercy.”

That was the last thing Villain said before Hero screamed. Hero reached up and grabbed their bandaged shoulder where Villain had shot them last time they fought but it felt like there was something inside it, something ice-cold, trying to break out from under Hero’s skin.

“Hero!” Vigilante yelled, but their voice was distant as Hero clawed the bandage off their arm trying to get the thing inside them loose. Hero felt Vigilante’s hands on them but it burned and they stepped back out of their hold and fell, their knee buckling under them and Hero was still screaming.

“Villain! Stop!” Vigilante cried, but Villain didn’t respond, they just kept their cold eyes trained on Hero as they wailed and screamed and cried.

The thing finally broke free from Hero’s skin and Hero let out a whimper of pain as they clutched the reopened wound, warm blood trickling between their fingers. Hero glared up at Villain, the motion making them sick. Villain stood emotionless, cool eyes on Hero, the shadow from Hero's shoulder slinking around his fingers like a pet mouse.

“We can do this the easy way,” said Villain nonchalant. “Or we can—”

He didn’t get to finish his sentence before a wall of rubble was slamming into him. Hero got to their shaking feet, almost falling again but Vigilante had an arm on their elbow helping them up. A cold sweat washed over Hero as they stood, and they shivered, their hair sticking to their forehead.

“Hero, are you—”

“I’m— yeah, I’m… I’m okay. I’m fine. Are you—”

“Yeah,” Vigilante said, but Hero knew from their tone that they weren’t. Maybe Villain was Vigilante’s version of Superhero, and Hero couldn’t imagine fighting having to fight Superhero. “I’m fine. We should go.”

Hero kept their swords out, just in case, as they started walking back the way they came. "If Villain was surprised that we were here that means that we were right and Supervillain raided here and didn't find me. We should check the-"

Hero looked over their shoulder at Vigilante and stopped walking towards the hole in the wall. Towards freedom. Vigilante hadn't moved a muscle from where they helped Hero get back to their feet. Their body was tensed, but Hero could tell from the way they were trembling that Vigilante was trying to break free from something. To fight something unseen to Hero.

"Vigilante?" Hero asked, voice barely above a whisper. Petrified eyes found Hero’s with a resolute hopelessness as they let out a soft "Fuck."

"Vigilante?" Hero asked again, concern lacing their voice.

“Villain has me. I can’t move.”

Hero looked back to where Villain was under the rubble, but Villain wasn’t there. Hero turned back to Vigilante, running towards them and skidded to a stop when they saw Villain materialising out of Vigilante’s shadow.

“You are fast, Vigilante,” said Villain, putting a hand through Vigilante’s hair and yanking their head back. “But I’m faster.”

“Let them go!” Hero said, voice hard, at the same time that Vigilante said: “Hero run!”

Villain scoffed, drawing his gun and pressing the barrel under Vigilante’s chin. “Come on Vigilante, we both know Hero won’t leave you here, so let’s make this easy on us all, hmm?”

Hero swallowed hard, but they were already lowering their swords at the threat.

“Hero please, please—”

Villain shoved the gun against Vigilante’s chin silencing them effectively. “Vigilante hush. Hero and I are negotiating.”

“Villain—”

Villain rolled his eyes at Vigilante’s blatant disregard of his instruction. “Okay. Fine. Here’s what we’re going to do, Vigilante, if you speak again I will shoot Hero in their good shoulder.”

“Please Villain, let them go, please! Hero leave me,” Vigilante cried but Hero couldn’t even if they wanted to, they were rooted to the spot. They couldn’t move their trembling legs if they tried. Blood didn’t run through them anymore, it was lead and concrete keeping them stuck.

This couldn't be happening. This had to be a nightmare. Maybe they were still in the shack in the trench and Vigilante was beside them trying to wake them up, or sleeping soundly beside them unbeknownst to the horrors happening in front of Hero's eyes.

It was a dream.

It had to be a dream. Anything else was too horrible to even consider, and yet Hero knew this was real. That they did wake up and come here with Vigilante. That Villain found them and caught Vigilante. That a tear was rolling down Hero's cheek at the sight, because they promised themselves they wouldn’t let anything happen to Vigilante.

Hero sheathed their swords. It felt like the executioner’s axe falling on their heads but they couldn’t do anything else.

“I’ll come willingly if you let Vigilante go.”

Villain’s cool gaze went to Hero, drinking in their blazing eyes and defiant words. “Darling, you’ll come willingly if I drag Vigilante along with us kicking and screaming. I think I’ll take the two for one special.”

“Hero…” Vigilante whispered, despair colouring each syllable black and dull. Villain smiled at Hero over Vigilante’s shoulder, letting go of Vigilante’s hair and Vigilante could finally right their head to look Hero in the eyes.

It was almost too much to bear to see Vigilante’s eyes but neither of them could chide the other too harshly. If the roles were reversed Vigilante wouldn’t run... even though Hero would want them to.

“Your power dampeners Hero,” said Villain, holding out a long arm, brown curls falling over his forehead casting shadows over his eyes.

“I don’t have any.”

Villain smiled. “If you want to be difficult I can just knock Vigilante here out and let you carry them to Supervillain.”

“Hero,” Vigilante said, “it’s okay.”

“I really don’t have any,” Hero protested, throwing their arms wide. “You can search me if you want. I lost them when I was fighting you and Other Villain.”

Villain hummed. Then realisation dawned on them and they scoffed, “oh, I do remember you dropping them. No matter. I’ll just have to trust you.”

Hero blinked at Vigilante who stared right back at them. Villain grinned at the exchange.

“I know neither of you are telepathic, but all the same, I’d rather we have our conversations in public. What was that look about, hmm?”

“Just thinking you’re dumb,” said Vigilante easily. Villain let out a sharp bark of laughter.

“Oh that’s cute. That’s funny, Vigilante," Villain said with a bark of laughter, voice deadpan as they continued: "I genuinely missed your humour, so witty. That was a good one, but look, I have a better one.”

Villain lifted their gun and aimed it towards Hero. Vigilante jerked forward, pushing Villain’s arm wide as they fired the gun. Hero flinched at the sound while Villain laughed again, pressing the barrel back against Vigilante’s temple.

“Hero, dear. Tell Vigilante to calm down or you will carry them to Supervillain.”

“Okay! Okay, Villain you made your point,” Vigilante huffed. Villain rolled their eyes for Hero’s amusement.

“What do you say, Vigilante?”

Vigilante scrunched their lips up then let out a quiet, “I’m sorry.”

“There now. Remember your manners or the next shot won’t miss Hero,” Villain said, letting Vigilante go finally. Vigilante took a step forwards only for Villain to slam their hand out, grabbing Vigilante's arm and stopping them from moving further.

“Hey what’re—”

Villain slapped Vigilante on the head lightly to stop them talking and after a beat he let go of Vigilante.

"On second thoughts, I don't trust you not do something stupid Vigilante, so, Hero find me a bandage and some medical tape."

Hero looked at Vigilante who lowered their gaze in defeat and gave Hero a small nod. Hero walked to one of the bedside lockers and got a large roll of dressing and the medical tape that Villain wanted before walking over and handing them to Villain.

Villain took them with a grin.

"Thank you, Hero," then turned and dragged Vigilante's hands behind their back and tied them. Villain wrapped the bandage around Vigilante's hands and wrists locking them together in a cocoon, then wrapped the entire roll of medical tape around the bandage before tossing the empty roll over their shoulder. "That should do it, Vigilante try and escape quickly for me."

Vigilante obliged, the muscles tensing in their arms and shoulders as they tried to pull their hands back around to their front but they couldn't. Villain shot a grin at Hero, cool eyes curving up happy with malicious glee shining behind them.

"Wonderful. Let's not keep Supervillain waiting any longer. After you Hero."

*~*~*~*~*

Continued here

The Orphanage (tag-list lmk if you want to be added or removed <3): @micechomper @aarika-merrill

#writblr #hero villain writing #hero villain snippet #hero villain story #hero #villain #writing #orphan writing #whump writing #vendetta #vendetta part five' #hero x vigilante #vigilante x hero #clever villain #scary villain #intelligent villain #creepy whumper #whump #emotional whump #war whump #hero villain whump #hero villain war #heroes vs villains #hero v villain #whumpblr #hero whump #hero whumpee #hero writing #villain writing #villain mentor

[paladinsandruffians]

Short Snippet #2

"Hero, put him down." The stern voice came from behind. Hero turns just barely glimpsing as a dark figure seems to peel away from the neighboring shadows. She grits her teeth, fist balling tighter around the struggling villain's shirt. She ignores the warm, sticky substance trailing down her arm, focus snared by the intruding man.

"You can't stop me, vigilante." She jerks the villain, evoking a gargled gasp from the battered man. "He," she growls, "Took everything from me."

Villain whimpers, trembling hands reaching for his front. His tears glisten in the pale moonlight.

Vigilante sighs, shaking his head in a slow, morose manner.

"No, Hero. He did not."

#heroes and villains #villain #hero #vigilante #villain whumpee #hero whumper #villains and heroes #wrongly accused #writing #writing snippet #hero writing #villain writing #whump #paladinsandruffians

[moss-tombstone]

Fake date

"Go on a date with me" Villain dodged an uppercut his opponent, Hero, tried to land on their jaw. "What, why?" suddenly, the enemy jumped away from Villain. Now that they could catch a breath they noticed hero's blushing under their mask. "Cause," the villain sighed "I kept telling my friends I'm busy whenever they tried to take me out during one of my heists. I told them that I have a partner with which I'm meeting. But after a year they want to meet them!" Villain looked at Hero with these puppy eyes "All my friends are mutuals and I don't have anyone else to ask" "And if I refuse?" Hero set their fist ablaze, still red on the face. "I'll have to kidnap and gaslight some poor civilian," they said with an innocent smile. "Also, if you go with me as my fake date I'll stop doing crime for... three days" "A month" the hero dropped their fighting posture. "A week" "Two weeks" "Deal!" Villain smiled, clapping their hands together. "Meet me at the [adress] tommorow at 6 PM and dress nicely" with this, they vanished into the darkness. The hero activated their watch. "Villain escaped but they left the valuables" they informed their sidekick. "Also, do you have anything elegant for me to borrow?"

#villain x hero #heroes and villains #hero x villain #hero writing #writing snippet #writing community #writing

[jaynerose]

The Stars (P.2)

(Here is part one, thanks to everyone for the support! @innerwinnerlove here is a part two, I wasn’t originally going to continue this but thought I’d give it a shot. A bit of backstory to the current situation.)

~Ten Years Ago~

The smell of warm bread was the only thing anchoring Hero to the earth beneath her.

Villain had managed to snatch a loaf from the bakery and they were currently enjoying their prize in a more hidden part of the forest. 

“Thank the gods, I thought I was going to have to eat grass if I didn’t eat something soon.” Hero murmured between mouthfuls.

Villain snorted, “Forget the gods, they didn’t have anything to do about it.” 

“Don’t say that, they could be out there, watching us.”

“Watching a couple of dirt covered, rat-haired, kids? I doubt it.”

Hero raised a hand to her head self-consciously. “I don’t know, I like to think something or someone is looking out for me.” 

“Yeah, that someone is me.” Villain’s face broke into a mischievous smile, “Does that make me a god?”

“I think it just makes you my friend.” Hero replied fondly.

Hero loved it when Villain smiled. It was rare, so being the cause of it felt special. 

“Can you promise me something?” Hero asked.

“Uh-oh, you’ve got that look in your eyes,” Villain mocked, “What is it? You want pie next time?”

“No! I just- you know what, forget it.”

Villain just laughed and crept a bit closer, “It’s too late now, you have to tell me. Come on, Hero. What is it?”

Hero mentally cursed at herself. 

“Alright fine, it’s just that I’d like you to promise me that we’ll stick together, no matter what.”

“Oh.”

“I know that’s a lot, it’s just after Lily disappeared, I’m worried-”

“I promise.”

Hero was a bit taken aback. “Really?”

Villain looked back down at the last bit of his bread and shrugged. “Of course.”

~Five Years Ago~

Hero had held onto that promise, held onto Villain. 

It wasn’t until Villain had gotten caught by the royal guard, stealing something he shouldn’t have, that they were separated. It was one of the most stressful weeks of Hero’s life. She didn’t sleep, she mostly blamed herself and patrolled the streets, looking for any sign of her friend. That familiar smile. 

She had barely enough time to catch a breath of relief when he had returned before it was announced that he was the Chosen One. When the guards had caught him, they found him with an ancient amulet in hand, glowing with a promise.

Apparently, he was prophesized to bring about a new era of peace to the kingdom. He was their shining savior, a hero.

Villain had scoffed at this at first. Ranting to Hero about the responsibilities he never asked for, how the people around him were so fake. But she saw it, then. There was a look in his eyes now, not the old hunger for stolen bread, but a new kind of hunger. 

“Villain, wait. Maybe you should take a break, you’ve been working hard lately, and staying out late. Maybe you should rest, just for tonight.” Hero tried. 

Villain’s eyes were still lit up with excitement. He had been rushing around the new house he had just bought days earlier. “No, I know you don’t like mentor, or any of this, but I need to go. Some very important people are going to be there.”

He wasn’t completely wrong. She didn’t like his new friends, she didn’t like how she felt like she had to beg for attention. It was desperate. 

Hero settled on the couch that probably cost more than everything she owned put together. Her eyes fixed on the floor beneath her feet.

“I’m happy that you are succeeding, Villain. Truly, I am. I just-”

“Just what? Just want me to stick to the pathetic, broken-down villages we used to run through?”

“No, that’s not it.”

“Then what?” He was getting defensive.

Hero finally looked up and met his eyes. He was nothing like that young, mud covered kid she had known. He was clean now, stronger and more determined. His eyes could cut through glass, it felt like they might cut through her.

“I just miss you.” Hero’s voice was soft now. Admitting that was placing a dagger directly into Villain’s hand and they both knew it.

Villain just looked at Hero.

The room was very quiet for a moment. When Hero would look back at this conversation, it was this exact second that felt like the marking point of things to come.

A knock sounded at the door and it shook both of them out of whatever trance they held. 

“I have to go. I’ll see you when I get back?” Villain said, although the last part wasn’t really a question.

“Yeah.”

~One Year Ago~

Despite an uneasiness that had grown between them, Villain and Hero managed to stay within each-other’s orbit. 

Villain had grown into the prophecy he was meant to fulfill. Vanquishing monsters and enemies from all over the kingdom. 

Hero had been there too. Cleaning up the wreckage, bandaging any who got caught in the crossfire. Always a few careful steps behind Villain. 

Hero had gotten done helping a young woman with her wounds and began to search for Villain and the rest of the party to rejoin them. 

What caught her attention was the sound of laughter. This was rather unusual considering the devastation that had occurred moments before. 

“Well? What have you to offer your savior?” 

Villain was standing over a young man who was trembling on the ground clasping something around his neck. 

“Please, my lord, I don’t mean any disrespect.” The young man was scrambling to get up, but one of Villain’s soldiers kicked him back down.

“It’s disrespectful to treat your future king with anything less than a bow when first spoken to.” Villain said, almost lazily.

“I swear, I didn’t know-”

“Didn’t know? What a pathetic excuse.” 

Villain began advancing on the man, signaling the guards to drag him to his feet. 

Villain’s eyes narrowed, “You know what, since you didn’t know I will just have to teach you.” 

Villain raised his hand to strike, powerful light thrumming around his fist. 

Hero’s heart was racing and before he could throw the punch she ran and placed herself between Villain and the man. “Stop!”

Villain paused. “Hero, what do you think you’re doing?”

Hero swallowed, “I think the better question, is what do you think you’re doing?”

The crowd of soldiers had gone silent. Waiting. 

“Get out of my way, Hero.”

“Or what, Villain?” Hero began to gain more confidence, “You’ll hit me too?”

Villain paused. Then he smiled. This time, Hero wasn’t so sure she was happy that she was the cause of it. 

~Present Day~

Hero thought back to that day, when she had stopped Villain from hitting that man. She remembered the small punishments that he had caused her afterwards. They had grown apart after that. A new tension had arose from what used to be an easy friendship.

Now, as she was hurtling herself through the darkness, she wondered if he thought of that same day.

The gardens were now pitch-black. The stars had gone out and the moon had turned her silver face days ago.

“You want to talk about weakness, Hero?” Villain’s voice echoed behind her. 

Damn this dress.

Hero’s only slight advantage had been her deep knowledge of the castle gardens. She had escaped here many times to avoid Villain’s cold wrath.

Villain’s voice sounded calm, but anger was living beneath the surface. “Then I’ll tell you a story, it’s about an ungrateful, greedy, peasant, who lived in her friend’s shadow.”

A knife, she needed a knife. She had left one here, just in case. 

“One day she made a mistake. She decided to take something that didn’t belong to her.” 

Hero fumbled in the dark, she managed to grab onto something cold. Success.

“You know, the story ends with her death. Of course, if you come out now and apologize, maybe it will have a different ending.”

Hero could hear her pulse, thrumming in her ears. Villain was close. She would need him closer. 

She stood up. “Do you promise?”

#villain x hero #hero x villain #hero writing #writing prompt #writing fantasy #hero and villain

[ticklishturtlett]

“Wait. So let me get this straight: You will promise to keep my identity a secret as long as I go out with you?”

“Pretty much, yeah.”

________

“Wait. So let me get this straight: You will solemnly swear to keep my identity a secret as long as I sit at the lunch table with you tomorrow?”

“I don’t like to see people eating alone. It makes me sad.”

___________

“Wait. So let me get this straight: You won’t tell my parents about my other half as long as I pretend to be your date to the prom?”

“Yeah, my parents were going to pay my cousin to do it again. I want to prove to them I’m not a loser.”

___________

“Wait. So let me get this straight: You won’t tell anyone about my secret identity as long as I get you my archnemesis’ autograph?”

“Well, I mean, who doesn’t like villains?”

#writingprompt #writing #mywriting #mine #villain writing prompts #hero writing #Hero prompt #romance #romantic comedy #chicklit #write #writers on tumblr #inspiration

[arggghhhsstuff]

forever obsessed with percy being weird. off-putting. strange even. a cryptid maybe. an urban legend if I may. my boy is the son of one of the oldest, most powerful gods, has been in FBI's records since the age of twelve, fought and won two wars against immortal beings, went to hell and back. I think he's allowed to be a little odd.

#percy jackson #cryptid percy jackson #<- there are only 3 fics under this tag on ao3 it's making me so sad #because i have THOUGHTS and HEADCANONS and IDEAS but i don't know how to write #demigods being less humans than they are in canon is a favorite headcanon of mine #they get to be WEIRD and SCARY and POWERFUL #!!!! #percy jackon and the olympians #heroes of olympus #pjo #pjo hoo toa #demigods #percy jackson fandom #percy jackson tv show #pjo show #yeah

[movedtodykedvonte]

*Spidey and the Sinister Six having their usual fight*

Doc Ock, landing a hit: You’re getting slow Spider-Man! Age finally catching up to you?

Spider-Man: You wish! I haven’t even hit my 30s! From those costumes I can already tell I failed to save you guys from those midlife crises! Sorry by the way.

Vulture: Watch it wallcr- wait… Did you just say your not in your thirties yet?

Spider-Man: Surprised that this spiders so young and spry? Well-

Electro: Dude I’ve been fighting you for at least 5 fucking years! How old even are you?

Shocker, joking cause he’s the only one who picked up no grown adult acts likes Spidey: Don’t swear in-front of the boy you don’t want him to pick it up.

Rhino: Christ! You’re tellin me I almost crushed some 12-year-olds skull all those years ago?

Spider-Man, regretting his quipping: I was not that young! Like just starting freshman year but-

Sandman, horrified as he’s the only one with a kid and dad instincts(as of my iteration): I could’ve killed a kid…

Shocker, genuinely curious: Are you even old enough to drink? Cruel to kill a man who ain’t had his first drink yet.

Electro: Please tell us you’re at least over 25 as of this fight. Hell, I’ll take over 21!

Spider-Man:….

Sandman, realizing just how young he really is: Oh my god.

Spider-Man: My birthday’s coming up soon so I guess it counts?

Doc Ock, exacerbated: It. Does. Not!

Vulture: What would your mother think if she knew her son was out here risking his life telling poorly constructed jokes?

Spider-Man, offended cause it quips slap: 1. My jokes are great 2. She and my dad are dead so-

Sandman, hysterical cause holy shit he almost killed a kid orphan: OH MY GOD!

#they now think he’s some homeless orphan fighting crime cause it’s the only thing he has #my fav hc are the villains earlier in spideys career are completely against harming kids #so to figure out the hero of New York was like a child they plan to torture before unmasking and killing is well #not great on their minds and little sense of morality #I wanted to write a fic about this but ao3 is dead so take this flash dialogue fic instead #I need to sleep for work #doc ock #sinister six #doctor octopus #otto octavius #the ​sandman #flint marko #the rhino #Alexei Sytsevich #the shocker #herman schultz #electro #maxwell dillon #the vulture #adrian toomes #peter parker #spider-man #spiderman

[nerdpoe]

Constantine has found an, as the colloquial term would be, easy mark.

He's just found out that the High Prince of the Infinite Realms is a freshly dead fourteen year old. And like, yeah, sucks that the kid died, he feels for him.

But also; the kid has a problem that's ridiculously easy to solve.

The American Government is trying to declare war on the realm that holds all universes together, and Constantine knows a few people who can bring that to light and get that shit shut down real fucking quick.

So he goes to Amity Park, to the little Prince's haunt so he can pin him down, help him out for "free", and work out a deal to call the American Government off.

Except the kid just wants him to do his stitches. Because the American Government wasn't bluffing, and has developed weapons that can and will harm the fabric of reality.

John does the kids stitches. They aren't very good, but they're the best he can do.

He sticks around.

He patches the little Prince up.

He...he gets attached.

He watches the GIW actually hurt the kid, seriously, to the extent that he actively steps in and gets himself labeled a terrorist by taking them out.

Now he's got an angry Big Three on the line, demanding to know what is going on, and he's realizing that he's a little past tricking a deal out of a kid that has too much power.

It's personal.

#dpxdc #dcxdp #dp x dc #dc x dp #phanfic #story prompt #no john doens't realize danny's a halfa for awhile #when he does find out first is confusion because how #second is concern because this is not only a prince but another teen hero #third is writing a letter of recommendation to Red Tornado to get the kid into a support network

[quozacheese]

i can't believe togachako is canon

#horikoshi accidentally writing the most beautiful gay relationship in mha #togachako #himiko toga #uraraka ochako #bnha #mha #my hero acedamia #boku no hero acadamia oc #yuri #wlw #doodle #fanart

[helpallthenamesaretakenblog]

I finally know what it is that makes percy and grover’s dynamic so different. Its the same dynamic that we see in american middle school media: a male protagonist and his weird, nerdy, conventionally less attractive male friend and their whole friendship dynamic is a shift from “he’s so weird ew” to “hey, maybe i can live with being your friend”

But percy and grover are different because they love each other so much!! Their friendship dynamic developed from “i like him, even though he’s a bit weird” to “you’re one of my favourite people and i know you dont believe that but ill make you believe it” which is like a hundred steps ahead of the typical friendship we see in the media.

#Rick rlly said imma take this trope and write a really cute friendship #And we love him for that #percy jackson #annabeth chase #pjo #rick riordan #pjo fandom #heroes of olympus #pjo tv show #percy jackon and the olympians #pjo tv series #grover pjo #percabeth #percy and grover #grover underwood #anabeth chase #percy jackson tv show #grover and annabeth #annabeth percy jackson #percy pjo #percy series #percy and annabeth #pjo show #persassy

[caker-baker]

Prompt

The hero couldn’t pinpoint where the explosions were going off, only that each loud boom was in tandem with the orchestra music being conducted by the villain.

They didn’t know what to do to get it to stop, and could think of only one last Hail Mary.

“Haha! Band kid.”

The villain stopped conducting.

#villain #hero x villain #hero #heroine #snippet #villain x hero #heroes and villains #villainess #writing #heroes #anyways #villains #writing snippet #hero writing #villain writing #civilian x villain #ummmmm ok so think of this like a concert band situation #I know orchestra and concert band are different but I traded my brain for stuff so like #sorry guys it’s so freezing I can’t think straight. #consider this a prompt #go nuts if inspiriation strikes #ok my fingers are losing movement from the cold be safe do school and drugs goodbye

[kamaluhkhan]

THE GRUDGE (or: the 7 things luke castellan hated about you)

read part two GET HIM BACK! (or: the 7 reasons you want revenge on luke castellan)

pairing: luke castellan x child of nemesis!reader (gender not specified)

word count: 8.5k

summary: luke hated your guts. he really did. he just hoped that no one could tell how, even after all this, you're still everything to him.

warnings/disclaimer: luke's POV. spoilers for the lightning thief and season 1 of pjo. some heated make-out sessions but no actual smut - MDNI / 18+. mentions of blood + death + alcohol. luke is 19 during tlt but i wrote this with him + reader being 21 by the end of this (this is important for the next part lol). anyways, luke + reader share clothes and lots of intense emotions they maybe possibly don't process in the best way. lots of ANGST - it's a greek tragedy fr!

author's note: welcome to my new hyperfixation! this fic is LONG but i hope she's worth it ♡

♪: the grudge by olivia rodrigo

(i. you have a sharp tongue)

fourteen year old luke was overwhelmed when he first stepped into the hermes cabin. it was loud and overcrowded and no one really seemed to care that they had a new cabinmate. the head counselor showed luke to an empty bed at the back, told him to get settled in, and left without another word. luke dropped his backpack before collapsing on the mattress. it was so thin that he could feel the springs dig into his back.

"you'll get used to it."

luke sat up to see you climbing through the window. 

you had a band-aid stuck on your chin, chipped nail polish the color of blackberries, and leather combat boots that looked way too heavy to be wearing in the heat of summer. 

“the shitty mattress?”

“i meant the whole chaos of cabin 11, and the way things work around here in general. if you can get used to the shitty mattress, all power to you.” 

your tone was friendly enough, playful even. you smiled at him so comfortably it made luke nauseous. 

“good to know.” he tried to smile back at you, but his heart wasn’t in it. “i’m luke, by the way.”

“yeah, i know. i’m —”

“y/n!”

you seemed entirely unfazed as the blond who called your name stormed over to you. you rolled your eyes, something only luke could notice, before turning to her.

“someone stole my candy.”

“i’m very sorry to hear that, maddy. gotta be careful around here.” your voice dripped like poisoned honey, deceptively innocent and sweet.

maddy was not having it. she huffed at you. “it was you, wasn’t it?”

“that depends. did you cheat at poker last night? again?” 

some of the chatter throughout the cabin paused, heads turning to listen in. 

“what? n-no!” 

“then you have your answer, maddy.” you exaggerated a sigh, as though you had already won the fight and were annoyed that she came back for more. “now, if you’ll excuse me, i have a new camper to show around.”

chiron had already given them a tour, but luke didn’t protest when you grabbed his hand and pulled him out of the window with you. your hand was warm in his as you dragged him along to the corner of the cabin where a poorly made ladder waited for you. 

“come on.” you started climbing, and only stopped to look down when you realized luke wasn’t following you. “best view of camp. trust me.”

a shiver passed through luke. trust didn’t come easy to him. he also didn’t particularly want to return to a stuffy cabin where all he would do was count reasons he did not want to be there.

 so, luke followed you. he sat down next to you on the roof and looked out at the sun shining on his new home, but he couldn't help but be slightly bitter. the gods had gotten all of you into this life of endless danger and battles and monsters, and this was all they had to offer in return: a summer camp. 

it just didn't seem fair. 

there was something else he noticed then. what was it that chiron had said? camp half-blood was supposed to be a safe haven for all demigods. 

“i don’t get it. there are only twelve cabins, but aren’t there, like, a million other gods?”

you straightened your posture then, and turned to luke with a newfound interest. 

“camp half-blood only has cabins representing the twelve olympians. apparently, they’re the only ones important enough to have children worth recognizing, and they can’t even do that half the time,” you explained, impertinence laced throughout your words. it seemed like something you could never quite get off your chest. 

every  demigod knew that the gods didn’t appreciate sarcasm. they  didn’t particularly like being called out on their bullshit, either.

you didn’t seem to care; you even rolled your eyes up at the sky, as if challenging zeus himself. 

“anyways, that’s why the hermes cabin is so crowded. it takes in campers who are unclaimed or whose parent doesn’t have a cabin at camp. like me.”

“so, who’s your godly parent?”

you fiddled with the leather cord on your neck. it held a few clay beads like the other campers, but there was one silver charm he noticed only you wore — scales, by the looks of it. you clutched onto it.

luke realized that, despite your own advice, maybe you resented having to get used to the way things worked around here, and having to hide your resentment. maybe that was worse than having to sleep on an uncomfortable bed for the rest of your life.

"nemesis. goddess of revenge."

"that's....hardcore."

you scoffed and moved on to twisting the silver ring on your index finger. "a lot of people take it that way, and i think it scares them a bit.”

“so that’s why you’re extra nice to new campers, huh?” 

“no, i was just in a good mood today.” you smirked.

“guess i was just lucky, then.”

luke couldn’t help but smile at your laugh — sharp, biting. you nudged your boot against his sneaker, which shifted you closer to him, shoulders practically touching. 

“what people don’t understand is that it's more about balance, you know? you do good things, and good things happen to you. at least, they should. you do bad things and….” you pulled out an outrageously big bag of candy, dropped it between you and luke, and winked at him. “you face the consequences.” 

“that makes sense.” luke leaned over to grab a handful of gummy bears. “like karma.”

“yeah. exactly.” 

you bit the head off a red bear, both of you chewing in silence before you added:

“by the way, i’m sorry about your friend.” you swallowed and caught luke’s gaze. 

chiron warned him that word would travel fast around camp about what happened to thalia, and luke had prepared himself for anything — anything but your reaction. there was no pity in your eyes; instead, there was a hint of rage, as though thalia had been your friend, too. 

“she deserved more.” 

luke’s eyes caught the glint of a knife strapped to your belt. he took another handful of the candy you stole, and he thought about the fire and fearlessness behind your words, and, despite everything, it felt right to be with you then and there. 

“yeah,” he finally whispered back. “she did.”

we all do. 

neither of you said those words, but the suggestion was there, and it felt like a promise. 

(ii. you hold on to every stupid, little detail)

“slow down, tiger.” 

your voice echoed throughout the arena, and if luke had been fighting a real opponent, it might have gotten him killed. instead, he just stopped mid-swing, sparing another straw dummy from losing its arm. 

“left hand,” you noted as you walked past him towards a bench. “you, my friend, are in need of a break.”

luke loosened the grip on his sword. the only time luke fought with his non-dominant hand was when he had overworked the other. he must have switched an hour ago, but judging by how heavy his arm felt, it could have very well been two.  

his curls were stuck to his forehead with sweat, his shirt soaked through. he could feel a dull pain behind his eyes, and luke was worried that if he stopped to catch his breath, he would pass out. or, even worse, have to face the reality of the shitty news he’d gotten early that day. 

“come sit with me,” you urged. “you’re exhausted, tiger.” 

luke bristled at your nickname for him. 

sure, luke loved that there was something only you called him, a secret kept between you in plain sight, but it was also a reminder that it was harder to hide behind the hero act when you were around.

everyone else at camp figured the nickname was a playful attempt at calling him strong and charismatic. the truth was that luke once told you that his favorite cereal as a kid was frosted flakes and that he would dream of playing sports as well as tony the tiger. for better or for worse, like most things, you wouldn’t let it go. 

case in point: if it was anybody other than you trying to get him to take a break, luke could have just brushed them off with a charming smile and continued swordfighting until his arms fell off, but in the two years since meeting you, luke had never met anyone as stubborn and convincing. like him, it seemed you were willing to fight and shed blood to get your way. luke was never really in the mood to make you bleed, even when feeling like he could burn the entire world down, so he usually gave in to your demands.  

as soon as he sat down next to you, you handed him an orange flavored energy drink — his favorite. anything other than water was hard to come by at camp without the enchanted goblets in the dining pavilion, or the right connection in the hermes cabin. he ran out of his stash the other day, but you must have noticed and gotten one of the stoll brothers to smuggle more in. 

“thanks,” luke said, ignoring the jolt of electricity that passed through him when your fingers brushed together briefly. 

 the two of you looked out at the sword arena, and all the straw dummies that luke had destroyed. you wait for him to take three big gulps of his drink before speaking again. 

“i guess chiron and your dad decided you weren’t ready for a quest.”

luke exhaled sharply. “how did you —”

“the only time you’d skip out on capture the flag is if something really shitty happened.” you looked down at luke’s clenched fists, and that seemed to be all the confirmation you needed. “you promised annabeth you'd be there, and it's not like you to let her down."

fuck. he had completely forgotten that tonight was annabeth's first time as team captain. this entire week, she had been prepping a winning strategy. it wasn’t like annabeth needed him to win, but luke was her big brother, and he should have been there. you were right — he had let her down. 

the realization made luke’s day go from bad to worse. 

"i told her you were helping a new camper with an emergency. she didn't believe it, but she adjusted her strategy and we still won.”

“well, thank the gods everything worked in the end,” luke grumbled. 

“don’t thank the gods,” you quipped. “thank annabeth chase for her brilliant mind, and me for covering for your sorry ass.”

when luke didn’t indulge in your usual playful banter, you moved closer to him and brushed some curls away from his eyes. your skin warmed his forehead, and the small gesture made him feel better than he had all day.

“look, i’m not going to give you some bullshit inspirational speech about how the gods don’t get to define what a hero is, or how you don’t need a quest to prove that you’re worthy of being one. we’ve each been through that before, and i have a feeling this won’t be our last time, either.”

“then why are you here?” the question came out harsher than luke had intended it to.

“because she’s trying her best to hide it, but annabeth is really hurt that you didn’t show up for the game. i figured the least you could do is suck it up, come to the campfire, and make her those signature luke castellan s’mores. you could probably use one, too, since you haven’t eaten anything since breakfast.” 

you were right, again. luke was exhausted, he was furious, but most of all, he was starving.  

later that night, luke sat next to annabeth and vowed to make her as many s’mores as she wanted. you’d gone to sit with the hephaestus kids, trying to convince beckendorf and nyssa to join your cabin’s post-campfire party at the beach, even though they had to work in the forges early the next morning. 

when chiron made his weekly speech, congratulating the winners of capture the flag and thanking the gods for keeping everyone safe, you and luke caught each other’s gaze from across the fire. you rolled your eyes and luke bit back a smile as you turned back to beckendorf. he noticed your knees were practically touching. did you sit that close to everyone? 

luke was looking at you for so long that the marshmallow he was roasting fell into the fire, despite annabeth’s warnings. she handed him another one. 

"you should tell her how you feel," annabeth said. "stop being a coward." 

whether it was the smell of burnt sugar, the heat of the fire, or annabeth’s comment, luke started to feel dizzy. he did his best to shake it off, asking annabeth for a play-by-play of her strategy earlier that night, but he couldn’t quite get rid of the thought of you. 

(iii. you don't care if your clothes are stained with blood)

“i just….i can’t fucking believe you, luke.”

“i don’t get why you’re so upset — you’ve never cared about quests before.”

luke was hoping to break the news to you after capture the flag. unfortunately for him, word travels fast around camp. 

annabeth had the two of you scouting the east side for the flag, while she and some other athena kids took the west. you hadn’t found anything so far, which meant that you’d spent the better part of an hour bickering over luke’s choice of companions for his quest. a choice that included charles beckendorf and chris rodriguez, and purposefully did not include you, much to your fury.  

before you could continue arguing, luke heard the sound of footsteps approaching. he looked over to you, and you already had your shield and sword at the ready. 

a few red defenders emerged from the trees. one charged at luke, but you stepped in so he could deal with the other two. one of his opponents went down fairly easily, but the other put up much more of a fight. metal clashed behind him as you kept fighting as well. you might not have been as skilled a swordfighter as luke, but he knew that you could hold your own, at least until he was finished with the person in front of him. 

luke parried his opponent’s strike, causing them to take a step closer. he was preparing to disarm them, just as he heard you yelp and stumble to the ground. it only took a millisecond of his attention, but it gave his opponent the opportunity to elbow him in the face. luke felt a crack upon impact, and pain radiated from his nose; he powered through. 

he had to finish this fight, and he had to do it fast. you needed him. 

his ears were ringing as he finally knocked over his opponent, kicking away their sword and keeping his foot on their chest. luke turned around to see you having turned the tides, the blade of your sword dangerously close to your opponent’s neck.

you locked eyes with luke, and you both understood — it was time to go. the two of you ran through the forest, as far away as you could before having to stop and catch your breath.

luke removed his helmet to get some air, and dropped his weapons. you did the same. you looked at him, brows furrowed.

“your nose.”

luke licked his lips, tasting blood. the triumph of winning that last fight overshadowed the ache of his potentially broken nose. in fact, he liked the image of a ruthless warrior emerging from the glory and gore of battle, that even though he did not bleed ichor like a god, he still had power. 

you, on the other hand, didn’t look impressed. instead, you stepped forward and offered the sleeve of your shirt to wipe away the blood. 

“you don’t have to —”

“i know you think you’re a badass walking around all broken and bloody, but you shouldn’t deny your admirers your pretty face,” you teased. 

it was no secret that luke had numerous admirers around camp, a fact you loved to tease him about. he was sure that you relished in how flustered that made him. all you had to call him was pretty boy, and luke could be reduced to a blushing mess. 

it was pathetic how much power you had over him.

“besides, i wouldn’t have gotten out of that last fight if you hadn’t taught me that disarming technique earlier. i owe you. it’s what we do. we take care of each other, right?”

he couldn’t argue with that.

a few moments of silence passed as you cleaned his face. something shifted as you worked, the flirtatious grin fading away. when you pulled away, your sleeve was stained a dark crimson. 

“just tell me honestly,” you finally murmured. “why don't you want me to join your quest?” 

luke was genuinely taken aback by the softness of your voice, now devoid of its usual fire. you wouldn’t meet luke’s eyes, but being that close to you, he noticed they were slightly glazed over.

he had expected you to be angry at his decision. he expected you to yell and argue and try to change his mind. luke hadn’t expected you to be so hurt. so broken. 

he hadn’t planned on it, but luke decided to tell you the truth then.

“look, karma, if you come with me, my heart wouldn’t fully be in the quest. i’d be so caught up in….well, you.”

a pause.

“is that a bad thing?”

“not usually, no.” 

you smirked a little at that, and luke’s heart skipped a beat. it also made his decision even clearer. 

“but i need to be focused for this. i need….” he let out a deep sigh. “i need to prove myself. this is my first real chance, and i can’t fuck it up.”

you met his gaze and smiled brightly at him, your signature spark of confidence returning.  

“you won’t.”

you reached a hand up to play with his necklace. luke hadn’t noticed how close you’d gotten until your fingers started tracing over those four clay beads. it made his entire body burst into flames.

“i’ve been wanting to do something for a while. and, aphrodite save me, it might be really stupid, but —”

luke took a lucky guess as to where you were going, and crashed his lips against yours. aphrodite knows that he'd been wanting to do that for a while, too. 

he often got drunk on the adrenaline of battle, the glory of winning, but nothing was quite like the rush of kissing you for the first time. 

it was messy and urgent, both of you aware that, at any moment, you could be interrupted. your noses were bumping together, teeth clacking against each other. the metallic tang of blood lingered on luke’s tongue, but neither of you seemed to care. you even bit his lip slightly, as if you wanted more. armor sat heavy and cold between your chests, preventing you from getting closer. luke had never loathed the protective gear more. 

he made up for it by lodging one hand underneath your jaw, and snaking the other beneath the celestial bronze, beneath the cotton of your shirt, admiring how your pulse quickened under his thumb when he grazed the soft skin of your stomach. you tangled your hands into his hair, nails scraping against his scalp. he groaned and felt you smirk against his lips. 

luke had kissed a few people before, sure, but never like this: like a knife to the gut, and if you pulled away, luke would surely bleed out and die. 

it wouldn’t be a hero’s death, in the traditional sense, but at least he’d die happy. 

how many heroes could claim that?

when luke ran out of air, feeling like his lungs were burning, he had to pull away. 

you glanced down at luke’s kiss-bitten lips, then back to his eyes. luke flushed under the intensity of your gaze. 

“just promise me something, tiger,” you whispered, voice hoarse. 

“anything.”

“come back alive.”

luke leaned forward and placed another kiss on your lips, this one much gentler than before.

“i promise.”

(iv. you love like a scar that won't fade)

the nightmares were getting worse. 

luke woke up in a cold sweat, taking gulps of air in an attempt to steady his breathing.

“luke.” 

your whisper did little to quell the pit of dread growing in his stomach, but it did enough to bring him back down to reality. 

he was at camp half-blood (fuck the gods of olympus), in the hermes cabin (fuck you, dad), in a bed next to yours (fuck, if he could tell you what — who — was going through his head, he would).

“i’m…i’m fine,” he murmured back, voice catching slightly on the lie. 

like clockwork, you shifted from your bed to his, slipping under the covers. it didn’t matter that it was a hot summer night, and the minute your legs touched his, he could feel himself starting to overheat. 

your thumb brushed over the thick edge of his scar, up his cheekbone to the corner of his eye. it had been a year, living with this reminder. a reminder that he had failed, just as much as his father and the olympians had failed him. 

luke tried to pretend that he didn’t come back from his quest as a shell of who he once was. after all, it was meant to be his shining moment as a demigod, meant to gain him all the glory and father’s praise he once wished for. 

what a fucking joke.

every morning, luke would crawl into a different skin. he welcomed new campers and taught sword-fighting. he laughed with chris and his other siblings and strategized with annabeth for capture the flag. he would be the easy-going, charming, skillful senior counselor who respected the gods and honored them in everything he did. 

again: a fucking joke.

nights were different, though, with you so close to him, you who could always see right through him.

every night, luke was a fourteen-year old boy again, with so much rage and resentment he didn't know what to do with it. 

of course, you were always you - a bleeding heart underneath layers of armor. you didn't care about fate, or the gods, or the titans. you cared about justice, you cared about what was right and fair. 

most of all, you cared about luke.

“you were screaming,” you told him, voice barely cutting through the soft snores and sleeptalkings of your other cabinmates. 

“sorry,” he managed. looking at you in the dull moonlight, luke noticed the deep shadows under your eyes. 

“it’s fine. you just….you scared me, tiger.” 

your hand still rested on his cheek, and for a second, luke hoped you would kiss him, but you didn’t. instead, you told him to try and get some sleep, and sank further into his bed before closing your eyes. 

for the hundredth night in a row, luke hoped you couldn’t hear his heart hammering in his chest as you fell asleep next to him.

since coming back from his quest, luke didn’t have it in him to suggest being anything other than friends, and you didn’t push it. there had been a few....moments between you, sure, but nothing more.

luke thought you might have changed your mind, because who would want to be with a bitter, worthless, wannabe hero? then again, that voice haunting his dreams…. luke could change that. 

but, at what cost?

(v. you protect people as ruthlessly as a starving dog)

luke could hear you talking to percy jackson outside. though he couldn’t quite determine what was being said, as much as he tried.

you entered the bathroom and instantly caught luke’s eyes in the mirror. you were wearing your faded pyjama shorts with cartoon crows, and a flannel shirt that luke had a sneaking suspicion might have been his. you smiled at him before setting up at the counter, one sink between you. 

“what was that about?” luke asked after spitting out a mouthful of minty toothpaste.

“oh, nothing.” you were searching through your toiletry bag for something, and seemed to come up short. “hey, do you have any extra dental floss?”

luke threw some over to you. as you effortlessly caught it, he noticed your knuckles, bruised and bloodied.

“what happened?” 

you finished flossing and briefly examined your hands before pulling out your toothbrush. 

“it’s not a big deal,” you assured. “some ares kids were picking on percy, and then they started pushing him around, like, really pushing him around, so….” 

“....you decided to send them to the infirmary.”

you squeezed some toothpaste on your brush before continuing. “i don’t need you to lecture me about how i shouldn’t be fighting with other campers because i’ve been here longer and i should be a good role model. you know what a good role model does? not let kids beat up other kids and think the worst punishment they’ll get is no dessert for a week.”

luke watched carefully as you jammed the toothbrush in your mouth and brushed with such force, he was worried your teeth might dislodge. he knew that you would shed blood for someone you loved, and that you didn’t particularly care if you had to break rules in doing so, because you believed that what was written was not necessarily what was right. 

in fact, luke loved that about you.

no, it wasn’t the fighting that luke cared about — it was who you were fighting for. 

percy was a good kid, he really was. luke just didn’t want you getting attached. 

“i wasn’t going to lecture you. i’m guessing chiron already did?” 

you nodded and spat out what looked like a combination of toothpaste and blood. you rinsed your mouth until the water lost its pinkish hue. once you were done, luke continued his train of thought.

“i just didn’t realize you cared so much about him.”

“about percy?” 

luke could tell that he didn’t have your full attention. you were packing your stuff back up, accidentally tossing luke’s dental floss into your bag, but he had more pressing matters to deal with.

“yeah. the kid’s only been at camp for three days, and you’re already acting like his guard dog.”

you finally turned to luke and glared at him. 

“maybe. but percy’s sweet and he doesn’t seem like the type to put up with bullshit. he’s been through a lot, and annabeth seems to like him, too. as far as i’m concerned, percy’s one of us, and i’m not going to let anyone push him around.”

luke raised an eyebrow at you. “he’s sweet?”

“yeah. like, just now, he gave me some blue raspberry jelly beans as a thank you. said his mom used to work at a candy store. he also wanted me to apologize to you for him. he feels bad about beating you in sword-fighting earlier.” 

you scoffed, like you resented luke for having to apologize to him on percy’s behalf. you definitely did not appreciate that guard dog comment. luke clenched his jaw, seething over what you had just said. 

satisfied with his reaction, you gave luke that nauseating smile of yours, tilted your head towards the exit. a truce, because you never liked to fight with luke for too long, and a order, because you knew luke would always follow. 

the two of you began walking back to your cabin in the warm mid-june air. 

“i wouldn’t say he beat me,” luke huffed. “it was beginner’s luck.”

“sure, tiger. it was beginner’s luck that disarmed the best swordsman we’ve had in the last 300 years.”

you nudged luke’s shoulder with yours, but he recoiled from your touch. 

“are you trying to make me feel worse?” luke tried his best to avoid snapping at you, keeping his tone measured.

“i’m just saying that maybe the kid has natural talent and that doesn’t make you any less talented. there’s no need to get jealous.”

luke resisted the urge to growl at your suggestion. 

to be clear, he was not jealous. it’s just that luke had spent years of blood, sweat, and tears getting to where he was then, and percy jackson had just gotten to camp. 

and, to be even more clear, luke was not jealous of how you were already defending percy with your whole body and your whole heart, the way you did for him. 

by then, you reached the front of the hermes cabin. luke could already hear the commotion of what he would need to deal with as soon as he walked in. the burden of being head counselor, one he approached with an elastic smile that could snap at any moment. 

you tugged on luke’s sleeve before he could open the door. 

“hey. are we okay?”

luke looked down at your fingers grasping the fabric of a sweatshirt he was just realizing was yours. your nails were painted a dark red, now chipped after a week of wear. you had begged luke to paint his nails then, and once again, he gave in. he even started to like the purple you had chosen just for him, so deep it was almost black. the same color you were wearing the first time you and luke met.

he smiled at the memory — a real smile, no plastic — and then smiled back up at you.

“we’re fine, karma.” and he moved to enter the cabin. luke could hear the threat of an argument bubbling up, what sounded like a petty one over a prank gone wrong.

“wait.” you tugged at his (your) sweatshirt once more. “there’s something i wanted to talk to you about, about tomorrow night—”

“annabeth called a meeting during free time.”

“yeah, i know, it’s just —”

“she’ll run through strategy for capture the flag then.”

“one of the aphrodite senior campers asked me to the campfire,” you blurted it out, and luke decided to ignore the sound of a fight breaking out from behind the wooden door.

what in the name of hades were you talking about?

“they asked you out? like…like a….” luke didn’t even want to speak the word, scared it would make it real.

“a date,” you said casually, as if that one word didn’t rip luke’s heart in a million pieces. “i said yes.” an admission that took all those pieces and set them on fire. 

sure, in the seven years since you and luke met, you’d each talked about boys, about girls, about dating and kissing them and going further. but there was something about this one that felt different. something about the way you told him.

“but, listen, i wanted to let you know it’s not —”

“good for you,” was all luke said through gritted teeth before someone started calling his name again, louder and more urgently, and he had to duck inside.  

(vi. you taste like burning cherries and righteous anger)

your team had won capture the flag, of course. the biggest news of the evening, though: percy jackson was the son of the sea god. 

he was a forbidden child, the hero of the great prophecy. 

everything was falling into place. 

all luke should be thinking about is kronos’ plan, and his role in it, and how a world without the gods of olympus was that much more in reach.  

unfortunately, for the time being, he was so consumed by you. 

you, from across the campfire, sporting cutoff denim shorts and fresh wounds from the game earlier. you, who had wrapped your knuckles in gauze, concealing their bruising, fixed the chips in your nail polish and stacked rings on your fingers. (for the record: luke had gifted you the one on your left thumb.) you, with dark lips that whispered too closely and laughed too loudly with a child of aphrodite— jordan li.

you hadn’t so much as looked at luke since congratulating each other on another win. when chiron announced his weekly gratitude to the gods at the start of that night’s campfire, you didn’t punctuate your resentment with your usual eye-roll or biting remark. you were too busy giggling at something jordan said.

luke wanted to be the one to whisper jokes in your ear. he wanted to be the one you left lipstick stains on later, along his jaw and down his neck. he wanted to be the one who kissed the blade mark on your shoulder and the bruises on your knuckles. 

and yet, hours passed and it seemed that the thought of luke had never so much as crossed your mind. he found himself at an after hours party with a few senior campers on the beach. a lethal recipe: a poorly crafted bonfire, some contraband drinks and you in jordan li’s lap, playing with their hair and pretending luke castellan did not exist. 

meanwhile, luke had katie gardner’s full attention. she was talking to him about the strawberry season, potentially leaning a bit too close into luke’s personal space, definitely flirting with him. 

luke could have done a lot worse than the head counselor of the demeter cabin, who always smelled like fresh lavender, whose eyes were the bright green of spring grass and whose lips tasted like golden honey. 

the problem was that luke only wanted you, and his eyes kept sliding over to where you were kissing jordan’s cheek, and he accidentally called the girl he was kissing by your name, which did not make her happy. 

katie threw her drink in his face, told him to wake the fuck up, and walked away.

a chorus of gasps and chuckles erupted as luke stood there, diet coke and vodka seeping into his shirt. the commotion seemed to capture your attention, because you suddenly appeared next to luke, an empty bottle of cherry soda in your hand.

“rough night, tiger?” your voice, that nickname, made luke sick, his face twisting into a frown. you don’t seem to notice or care. instead, you switched your bottle with luke’s and took a sip.

“looks like you were having a pretty good time,” luke practically sneered. “where’s your date?” 

 “they went to bed.” you swallowed a mouthful of beer, grimacing at its bitterness. “gods, this is terrible. you and i should go on the drink run next time — we have better taste.”

“so, are you and jordan like a thing now?”

you gave luke a smile he didn’t quite understand, but made his stomach churn in ways only you could. “would that be a problem?”

“of course not.” he answered way too quickly for that to be true. 

“let’s get out of here,” you suggested. “i think katie is about this close to strangling you with a tree branch.”

luke glanced over your shoulder to where green eyes glared back at him. 

nowhere could luke find it in him to care. he wasn’t even sorry. he just shrugged, took the bottle back from you, took his first sip all night. luke almost gagged (because of course you were right, and the stoll brothers had better fake ids than they had taste) but he suppressed it. 

“no. i’m good.”

biggest lie he ever said. like there wasn’t anger caught in his throat and jealousy swelling between his ribs.

“go find jordan,” he taunted. “kiss them, show them a good time! isn’t that the reason why you got all pretty?”

you narrowed your eyes at him carefully. your nostrils were slightly flared, and luke took a bit of pride in being able to rile you up.

“look, we haven’t really talked lately, and i think we should.”

“go find jordan,” he mocked once more. “almost all the aphrodite kids are here, and i’m sure you can be quiet enough to sneak into their cabin and if you want a quick fu—”

“luke.” you clipped his name, obviously getting to the limit of your patience with him. “if you want to stay here all night and be an asshole, you’re welcome to. you should know, though, that your happy-go-lucky hero mask is starting to crack and i don’t know if you could deal with the fallout from it shattering completely.”

you leaned in close and whispered that last part, very aware of the chattering that stopped and the eyes that watched the pair of you anxiously. luke was usually good at hiding that part of himself who wanted to burn the world down. 

in ways you didn’t realize, you were right: he couldn’t risk revealing it, not now.

not yet. 

“do whatever you want, castellan,” you spat out his last name, the combination of letters foreign in your mouth.“i’m leaving.”

luke should be proud of himself. he waited a whole two seconds before following you like a stray dog. 

luke didn’t know if he’d ever felt you that enraged by him, and it horrified him. it also made him hungry for more. 

“i’m not sure that jordan would want the two of us alone together at night,” he shouted after you, words echoing into the starless sky.

“gods, enough about jordan!” luke practically ran into you with how fast you turned around to confront him. “i was helping them with that stupid aphrodite tradition!”

“you….” luke faltered, all the snark leaving his body. “what?”

luke remembered silena beauregard once explaining the rite of passage to him: to prove themselves, a child of aphrodite had to make someone fall in love with them, and then break their heart.

“why…why would you agree to do that?”

you had reached the dining area by then, and you sat on one of the steps leading to the pavilion. luke stayed a few feet away, looking at you cautiously. 

“jordan and i are already friends, and they figured a fake relationship would be the way to avoid anyone from actually getting hurt in the process.”

“you seemed so…so into it, though,” luke stammered, the memory of you in jordan’s lap, laughter bubbling from your lips, still fresh.

“it’s called acting, dumbass.” the camp didn’t rely on electricity, but there were enough torches around that luke could see you roll your eyes. “anyways, i was trying to give you a heads-up last night, but you wouldn’t listen.” you took a deep breath. “and, honestly, i didn’t push it because….i figured i should test a hypothesis.”

a hypothesis? you’d known annabeth for too long.

“what hypothesis?”

you hesitated. 

“it doesn’t matter. fuck, this was stupid,” you muttered, and without another word, stormed through the dining pavilion, a short cut to the hermes cabin. your footsteps fell heavy against the marble, and luke’s not far behind. 

“what hypothesis?” he asked again.

nothing but rushed footsteps.

“what hypothesis?” luke finally yelled.

third time was the charm, because you stopped in your tracks and faced luke once again. a fire burned in the bronze brazier, where campers were forced to offer up portions of your food to the gods at every meal. its roaring seemed to captivate you, and the flames danced across your face, illuminating all your curves and edges.

“i’m angry at the gods,” you stated. 

this caught luke off guard. from the day the two of you met, luke knew you shared that feeling. you’d gotten quieter with your rage as you’d gotten older. luke supposed he got better at hiding it himself, as well. 

“i’m angry at the gods for letting bad shit happen even if they can stop it, and for building this world in the fucked up way they did. i’m angry at your dad for the way he’s treated you, but — you, luke castellan.” you finally met luke’s eyes with a gaze so sharp, luke almost felt himself bleed. “i’m also angry at you, and not just for your bullshit tonight.” 

your admission felt like a punch to the stomach, and luke was left with no air to breathe.

did you know?

“you haven’t been the same since your quest,” you continued, words slow and deliberate, the way you spoke when you were worried your voice would shake. “and i’ve come to terms with that in the past few years, but you….you’ve never tried to ice me out before. you’ve been acting distant since december, and it’s been driving me insane. do you realize how much i miss my best …..” you swallowed the word friend. “how much i miss you?”

luke hesitated, because what could he say? i know i’ve been distant, but i’ve been busy trying to start a war between the gods. sorry babe! 

would you hate him, if you knew? 

you had to have known that, despite the distance, luke missed you. for tartarus sake, in the last two days, he’d driven himself mad at you calling a fourteen year old boy sweet, and he was about to combust at the image of you dating someone else, with little care as to the collateral damage. 

"you can't just avoid me, makeout with katie fucking gardner, and then….” you trailed off, hiding your face in your hands. whether it was to hide embarrassment or tears, luke wasn’t sure.

a smirk spread across luke’s face at the revelation that he hadn’t been the only one jealous at the bonfire that night. it lit luke up with the confidence he needed to not completely fall to his knees in front of you, beg for your forgiveness for everything he’s done.

“why do you care if i make out with katie fucking gardner?” 

as he waited for a response, luke walked towards you until your back hit one of the marble columns. 

“why do you care if i’m with jordan fucking li?” you clenched your jaw and looked right through luke. a clear indication that you wanted him to break down first; it wouldn’t be you who yielded this fight.

“because i want to be the one you’re with.” at that point, luke was so close to you that he swore he could hear your heartbeat. he reached out and played with the hem of your shorts. “why do you care if i make out with katie gardner?”

“because.” you drew in a sharp breath when luke’s fingers brushed underneath the denim, across the warm skin of your thigh. you closed your eyes. “don’t make me say it, tiger.” 

the desperation in your voice made luke want to do unholy things with you, to you. luke knew you didn’t think of him as a saint, and you never expected him to be one. the reality was that you weren’t much better, either. what was essentially an altar to the gods burned bright next to you, but it seemed neither of you had ever cared less about it than in that moment. 

luke would watch olympus fall. he would dethrone the gods and watch their glass castle shatter and find glory in a new world. in the grand scheme of things, he was willing to lose this battle.

in fact, he would have rather betrayed the titan lord himself than waste another second not kissing your lips. 

so, he kissed you, and you kissed him back with such force, such hunger, it was ungodly.

no, you certainly weren’t a saint — but you were divine, in the most brutal, intoxicating way. in the way you shuddered when luke lodged a leg between your thighs; in the way you threaded your fingers through the belt loops of his jeans to bring him closer; in the way the metal of your rings burned through the skin of his hip, right to the bone, which made him shudder, and you smile triumphantly against his jaw.

the more he tasted your smirk flavored by cherry soda and the ashes of nearby flames, the more he felt your feral teeth against his neck and your wicked nails digging into his shoulders, the more you tugged on his curls, the more luke thought: maybe. 

maybe you would give into your seething resentment, live up to those eye-rolls and snarky comments that got you in trouble with chiron, on the edge of hot water with the gods. maybe you would join the titan army. maybe, just maybe, this time, you would follow luke.

and yet — maybe wasn’t enough if it meant he could lose this. luke wouldn’t risk it, not until he kissed every battle scar and bruise on your body, and you did the same to his. 

“wait.”

it was the last thing luke wanted to do, but he complied. he took the opportunity to appreciate the chaos he created: your shirt in disarray, your lipstick a mess, your chest heaving and desperate to catch a breath. 

“i promised jordan that we’d keep up our charade for a week, two at the most. do you think we could keep this…” you tightened your fist around the fabric of his shirt. “a secret until then?”

luke responded by pressing his lips to yours once more, because there were definitely worse secrets to keep.

(vii. you wouldn’t hesitate to make him bleed)

luke had just left percy jackson to die.

he should be leaving camp, now, but he needed to see you one last time. 

the universe works in mysterious ways, because you were out on a run through the forest, and you crossed paths before he even had time to wonder where you were.

“hey, tiger.” you smiled as if this was a regular afternoon. the two of you would teach your afternoon activities, sneak away during dinner so luke could kiss you in that spot that made you gasp. “wanna join me? i was just wrapping up, but i could be convinced to go longer.”

for a second, he was tempted to. very tempted. 

“i don’t have much time.”

you seemed to notice luke’s sullen mood and you dropped your playful demeanor. 

luke explained: the messages from kronos in his dreams, him stealing the lightning bolt and helm of darkness to start a war between the gods and framing percy. the plan to destroy olympus that luke had pledged his life to.

percy was surprised at what luke had done, and luke could imagine that the rest of camp would be, too. luke was the golden boy of camp half-blood, everyone’s big brother. 

you, on the other hand, didn’t express any sense of shock. 

“luke.” you said his name like you weren’t quite sure it was poison. “i’m going to give you five seconds to tell me that you’re joking.”

five seconds of silence passed. you took a few steps back from luke.

“i….i should have told you sooner.”

“yeah,” you scoffed. “you should have. but, you didn’t. did it feel good, having the titan king whispering sweet nothings in your ear? all the lies about how this war is the only way to get the glory you so desperately want? it’s fucking delusional.” 

“it’s not delusional—”

“yes, it is!” you glared at him. “you’re on the wrong side of a war you made the mistake of starting.”

luke straightened his posture, thinking about how hypocritical you were being. 

“isn’t this what you’re all about? revenge, karma. your mom will probably join us, too. don’t you want to see the gods finally get what they deserve?”

“not like this. i can’t believe how desperate you are, to believe that kronos is going to make everything right. it’s pathetic,” you spat. “i’m not saying the gods don’t deserve to be taken down a notch. their fucking obsession with power and glory….it’s sick and twisted, but i don’t think your titan king is any better. i don’t think you are any better.” 

“it’s time that the gods fall. this is the only way, even if it isn’t perfect,” luke countered. his voice was firmer now as he absorbed your anger. your mother was the goddess of revenge, but you clearly didn't understand the sacrifices, pain, and blood that was required to make the world a better place.  

luke just needed to convince you.

“we’ve talked about this for years,” he continued. “nothing is balanced! there’s no justice here, for anyone.  we can build a better world where we don’t have to burn our scraps and throw ourselves at monsters to get attention. we can fight together like we always have. y/n, i love—”

“don’t,” you snapped. “don’t you fucking dare. you should have died on your quest.” your voice laced with venom. one hand gripping the knife you always kept on your belt. “that dragon should have fucking sliced through you and saved us all the trouble.”

something pricked in the back of his throat, down to his stomach.

“you don’t mean that.”

“i do,” you promised. “at least you would have died with all of us thinking you’re a hero instead of the traitor you really are.”

you grabbed your knife, took a fighting stance. 

“i’m not going to fight you,” was all luke could say. he noticed your hand tremble, and you tightened the grip on your knife to prevent emotion from slipping through your invisible armor. 

in that moment, you have could slice through luke, and it would hurt less than everything you just said, less than the murderous look you were giving him, like he was just another monster you wouldn’t think twice about sending to tartarus.

luke didn’t even have a chance to unsheathe his sword before you charged at him, but he quickly had you pinned to the ground, the tip of your own knife pointed at you. he hesitated. the blade pressed harder against your cheek than he intended, enough to break the skin and let a few droplets of dark crimson escape. 

“please come with me,” he pleaded. you didn’t answer, but you did seem surprised by the softness of his voice. 

a few moments passed, the celestial bronze still between you. luke waited for you to see his way, to yield to his proposal.

you didn’t. instead, you took advantage of the situation. you wrapped your leg around his and flipped your position. in the process, you regained possession of your knife. without the hesitation that held luke back, you sliced through his cheek, deep. luke bit his lip to suppress a groan, tasting blood. your gaze set his whole body on fire as he waited for your next move. that was when you glanced down at his camp necklace, and the new clay bead added to commemorate this summer.

a turquoise trident.

“percy told me he was on his way to see you,” you realized. “what did you do?”

luke didn’t answer. he knew then that a choice ran through your head. 

and it stung, just a little, watching you sprint away through the trees in a last ditch effort to save percy’s life. 

there was a small, pathetic part of luke that wanted you to choose him, even if it meant you would have plunged the knife into his chest.

#this is my baby fr #really feeling the tragic hero vibe down to my core #will prob do a part 2 from reader's POV! #ofc inspired by get him back! bc nemesis!reader.... #percy jackson #pjo fanfic #pjo series #luke castellan #luke castellan x you #luke castellan x reader #pjo x reader #luke castellan angst #luke castellan imagine #percy jackson and the olympians #luke castellan smut #saf writes #Spotify

[paladinsandruffians]

Turnt Up

The world seemed to swim, swirling about as Villain lowered the glass from his lips. It slips from his trembling fingers as faintness overtakes him.

His eyes dart about. There are two exits: one there, at the front, and the fire door towards the back. Both are blocked by the throng of partiers. The one at the front is closer, but the crowd is more densely packed. If he could just...

"Hey, man, are you alright?" One of the partygoers approaches him, his own glass in hand. His brown hair is in a crew cut and he has the physique of a football player. He looks to be around Villain's age, maybe a little older. If he had to guess, he probably plays for one of the local colleges. Has he seen him before...?

"Really. I think you've had too much to drink. Do you want me to call an uber?

"Mmm." He can't open his mouth. His tongue feels sluggish and thick and all he wants to do is take a nap. A nap sounds really good right about now. His eyelids grow heavier and heavier. It couldn't be that bad, could it? Just...a few...minutes...

"Oh, don't worry about him," a chirping voice calls out. Who?

A slim but firm hand lands on his shoulder and squeezes tightly. He catches a glimpse of glittery red nail polish before a pair of arms wrap around his neck and someone presses their head against his.

"Sometimes he gets carried away, but don't you threat. I'll take good care of him."

"Are you sure?" the muscular stranger asks, looking between the two. If you guys need a ride, I could-" She waves him off.

"I own the big blue truck out back. Transportation won't be a problem." The stranger nods, sparing a final concerned glance at the lethargic villain before disappearing amongst the inebriated lot. He shouldn't worry so much. It's his day off after all.

Mumbling incoherently, Villain feels as the woman slips her arms under his and lifts him by the armpits. She begins, more carrying than, guiding him towards the door. His legs nearly give out after only a few feet. He...he shouldn't be this drunk. He...something...something's wrong.

They step out into the crisp, evening air, slowly progressing along the poorly lit parking lot. Halfway down the lot, the stranger pulls out a ring of keys. Finding the right set, she clicks a button.

Opening the passenger door, she heaves the weakened man up into the seat and latches him in with a normal-looking seatbelt.

Slipping into the driver's seat, she smirked at her unconscious passenger. Vigilante is going to love this.

She peels out of the parking lot, no one the wiser.

#villain #hero #vigilante #villain whumpee #drugged villain #writing #writing snippet #heroes and villains #villains and heroes #hero writing #villain writing #vigilante writing #whump #turnt up #paladinsandruffians

[moss-tombstone]

|Heart under scales| part 4

part 1 part 3

No matter how long Superhero talked to Villain, the man didn't say a word, only flinching when the metal wires squeezed around his body more than before. After hours of worthless interrogation Hero asked if he could rough him up, the idea quickly melted under the leader's disapproval gaze. The prisoner was once again placed in the cell, left to bang on the doors.

"Sorry, but the lesson wasn't as helpful as I had hoped" Superhero apologized and left their student to talk about the situation with Medic.

Sidekick couldn't sleep that night, the whispered promise of their enemy repeating in their head. 'I’m going to kill all of them and get you out, Scientist'. He wasn't worried about the latter, Superhero and the rest of the team would easily overpower him. But the scientist part worried them. Who were they and why did they need to be helped? The only person that knew the answers was Villain, and it was hard to believe he would tell them anything.

Was Scientist their friend? Were they being locked up so Villain won't tell the heroes anything? Sidekick rolled on the bed. Would he help them if his colleague was safe? Well, there is one way to find out, Sidekick jumped out of the sheets, silently trotting down to the base's basement. All of the heroes' quarters were closed at night and by transforming into a cat they could noiselessly sneak around.

Villain's room was once again silent, Sidekick could only hear his shallow breathing. Once again in their human form they could, they opened the doors and entered the cell. They looked down at the villain's bed and... it was empty, white sheet laying on the floor. A lump went up to their throat and led by instinct, they turned to the blind spot of the room. Villain grabbed them around their shoulders, forcing them down, once of his scaled hands around Sidekick's mouth. Trapped like that they couldn't transform, making struggling the only option. But now, unlike the last time, they were close to the villain's body.

A strong kick just under his knee made him stagger forward, letting Sidekick break free from his grasp.

"I want to help you find Scientist!" they whispered, jumping back from another tackle their opponent tried to do. With shock on his face, Villain stopped his move, looking in disbelief at the person they tried to ambush.

"How do you know about them?" he growled, once again regaining control over his facial expressions.

"Will you help if they're free?" Sidekick didn't answer his question, dropping a bit their fighting stance. It took a few seconds, but Villain did it too.

"I'll do anything if you help them" he whispered.

#heroes and villains #sidekick x villain #hero and villain #writting #writting snippet #tumblr writers #series #hero x villain #hero writing #villain x hero #writing community

[deadsetobsessions]

Danny laid across his throne, legs planted across the left arm of the ornate chair and back pressed uncomfortably against the right.

"Listen," Danny started, letting his head flop to the side as he glared at a hovering Observant. "This meeting has wasted enough of my time. You all have been arguing for hours and that's without Clockwork slowing things down."

"Your Majesty, this is a matter of great importance. Belial means to overthrow and rule my-our world!"

"I am distinctly aware aware of that," Ancients, Danny couldn't wait to go home and rid himself of the formal speech he'd had to adopt in order to be taken seriously. Well, as seriously as he cared to be taken when sprawled across his throne instead of sitting on it intimidatingly or something. He slowly placed his gaze on the suddenly still demon sitting across from him. "Yet you've proposed fifteen different plans that were all unviable for whatever reasons you've cooked up. Your conclusion is that I must step in. Does your world not have heroes to take care of it?"

The demon- another lord of hell from this Belial’s universe- fell silent.

“Ah. But if they do, they would also take care of you.”

“No- no, that’s not-”

Danny allowed his voice to drop to the artic freeze he knew his core was capable of. "I opened these these doors to allow all of you to present me with reasonable concerns regarding your own universes and realms. What is not on the table for discussion is your petty politics. Do you think I am unaware of your intentions in tattling to me? That I do not know you are trying to use me to further your own position?"

"Your Majesty, I-" The demon growled out, fear slowly coating its expression.

"It no longer amuses me. You think that I am young and easy to manipulate." Danny froze the demon to its chair. It tried to break free, but Danny isn't the High King of the Infinite Realms for nothing. "Bring to me a miserable problem like this ever again, one that could be easily solved if you used even a smidgen of your intelligence, and you will find exactly how I tore Pariah Dark from his throne."

Not that Danny knew how he did it either, he just did it.

"Yes, Your Majesty. My-my apologies."

The room is dead (Danny patted himself on the back for the pun) silent. Some of the Ancients looked bored, like Clockwork who knew Danny would never hurt them, but everyone else looked close to crying. He held eye contact with the demon until it looked away.

When Danny settled back into the throne and allowed his ice to dissipate, the room let out a collective sigh of relief.

"The next item on the agenda is another demon, by the name of Trigon." Clockwork announced, the large piece of paper comically huge next to his currently toddler-like body.

"Another?"

He flicked an amused look at the previous demon, who kept his trap firmly shut.

"He is attempting to take over multiple worlds in an attempt to conquer the universe. I had thought you would be interested in this one, Your Majesty, as he plans to begin with Earth 135."

Danny stilled. That was his Earth. His haunt.

"Does he know of the Realms?"

"Vaguely, I believe."

"Then he should know the rules. I will wait to see if my Earth's heroes are capable to step to the task."

Danny would be a hypocrite if he doesn’t let the heroes of his Earth try first, even if he is one of those heroes.

"Of course," Clockwork grinned at him, fully aware of the shit Danny's about to stir back home. Ah, the wonders of being able to influence the time stream. Perhaps the young Ghost King will finally get some friends, and maybe get those pesky speedsters to stop making his jobs so hard. Cujo yipped at Danny as the King begrudgingly moved onto the next topic.

——

Raven shuddered as she watched the footage of her "brothers" laughing while steering their human "meatbags" around. She turned back to the giant circle of donated blood and herb filled candles.

“This is a nuclear option, don’t you think?” Green Arrow mumbled, clearly not against it by the half hearted way he’d said it. The Star City billionaire nursed his cracked ribs.

“No,” she floated over to where Zatanna and Constantine kneeled, trying to see if they needed help with the inscriptions. “Trigon is coming soon, and my brothers will no doubt find their way here in a moment. We are out of time.”

“Yeah. Plus, we don’t want Raven to be turned into a portal.” Garfield piped up, switching animal forms rapidly.

“No one dies.” Red Robin muttered. His wrist computer was open, monitoring the surroundings of the open field they found themselves uneasily occupying. Batman grunted in affirmation, eyeing the tree line. Every hero except the magical ones were on look out, preparing themselves for one more battle against the two demons that were trying to take Raven and force her into becoming a portal.

“Hey guys, we might want to hurrythisupbecausethey’re kind of close!” Impulse slammed into the room.

“Done.” Zatanna got up, motioning for everyone to step back. In Superman’s case, he floated back.

“Too bad you won’t get to use it,” a voice drawled, dripping with malice and the screams of a thousand souls.

“Come now, little sister. Why fight fate? Be grateful father has deigned to spare you. If not for your dirty blood being useful, you would be dead, little sister. Give up, before our patience runs out alongside the lives of your little pets.” Another, mocking, voice gleefully rumbled.

Raven would rather gouge out her own heart than to claim these two as any type of family.

“You won’t touch them.” Raven snarled, powers rising even as the marks on her body burned a painful red.

“Buy us some time!”

With that, the group of beaten and battered heroes rose to clash against just two demons, for a chance to save their world.

——

The Circle crackled. Danny felt a tug on his core. He followed the thread of the summoning. Oh. It was his haunt. Earth 135. Hm. It tasted of blood. Desperation? A hint of anticipation. Oh, an overload of fear. Could use some more hope, but Danny understood that it was rather hard to season these kinds of summonings with hope.

“Stop.” Danny commanded, straightening in his chair.

“Sire, we have more-”

“There is an issue with my haunt,” with that, he followed the summons.

——

“Ugh,” was the first thing everybody on the frozen battlefield heard. The demons had smacked away many of the heroes, but they all turned as one when the circle lit up a bright green. “Why do you people always use blood? I’m dead, I don’t need any more iron!”

A boy

Raven’s eldest brother let out a hideous rumble. “You fools tried to summon the king, and you got a dead boy. And now, you’ve doomed another.”

Constantine looked resigned, and regretful. “I am so, so sorry,” he whispered. It was just a kid. John might be a lot of things, but even he found summoning dead kids for demons to devour was just a step too far. “Shite, we got the wrong fucking-”

“Hey, man, that’s rude,” the boy snapped back, waving John off.

“Brother, kill the whelp.”

“I vote on not killing the whelp. Not killing at all, really,” the boy stepped out of the massive blood circle, wrinkling his nose at the drying stains.

“This is not one of your pesky democracies, fool.”

In response, the demons lunged at him, ignoring the screams of the surrounding heroes as they shoved their human arms through the boy’s stomach.

“So,” the boy continues, “I heard your dad was after my haunt?”

“Your haunt, whelp? This earth shall be his! And through him, ours!” Raven slammed against the demons with her power, shadows enlarging and tossing them away from the unharmed… ghost boy?

“Is it?”

——

Wow, these demons are so rude. Normally, it’d be a breath of fresh air compared to the stuffy halls of his throne room. But since they’re attacking his haunt…

“Thanks. You’re… Raven, right?”

Raven nodded, arms outstretched in concentration as she held her brothers back.

“You have to go. We’re- we’re sorry you got pulled into this, but it’s not safe here.”

“Eh. It’s cool. You don’t have to do that anymore, by the way.” Danny stepped forward once more, green skin shifting and gliding as everything about him sharpened. He flew at the demons piloting the human shells, catching them around the necks and dragging the demons out of their stolen bodies. The threw them even further away as he floated in the air, a beacon of green and white. Raven thought it looked like hope.

“My name is Phantom, the High King of the Infinite Realms,” let it be known that Danny always had an eye for dramatic entrances. He shifted into something more off, more eldritch, more kingly. The crown flared to life above his head. “You have invaded my haunt. You have challenged me. What do you plead?”

“You’re not-” they said.

“Wrong answer,” Danny flew at them once more, body contorting into something undeniably terrorizing, his maw unhinging and crunching down on the demons with a sound that made the present heroes cringe.

“Ugh,” Danny grunted, turning back and floating peacefully to the group of heroes- Tucker and Sam would be so stoked he met Wonder Woman and Batman!- and chewed rapidly. He shifted back into his normal form. “Eating demons always leaves me with indigestion. And their bones get everywhere up in my teeth!” Danny pulled out a giant femur looking bone from his mouth, despite it not logically fitting in there.

“Right. No eating demons, solid life advice.” Red Robin said.

“Right? So, you’re Raven! It’s nice to meet you! Think you can summon your dear ol’ dad for me?”

“But we summoned you to stop Trigon, not help him come here.” Superman said, frowning.

“One! That summoning circle is wack. Those things you piled up as offerings? Mid. Also, if you thought you could control me with those terribly written spells, you’re dead wrong. And yes, I am making puns about death.” Danny jabs an aggressive finger towards the shabby circle.

“Have you considered that maybe not every being that can be summoned wants a shit ton of useless blood? Like what if I wanted food? And two, how am I supposed to beat up Trigon if he’s still stuck in the prison realm?”

“I have a cup of coffee,” Nightwing offered. “Kid Flash could probably get you food, right?”

“Yep, surethinganythingyouwantyourMajesty.”

“You wouldn’t catch me alive accepting food from a speedster. You people fuck up the timelines so much,” Danny grumbled, crunching on the last of Raven’s brothers. Raven thought she should probably sit down.

“But you’re dead.” Batman said, something about his voice catching the sharp attention of his protégés who all started making cutting motions at him.

“Fair,” Danny pointed at him, grinning. “I’ll take two pizza and Nightwing’s coffee as payment for taking care of your little demon overlord problem. Raven, summon your dad.”

——

Didn’t much like the characterization of this piece but it’s been in my drafts for a while and I needed it out

#ghost king danny #danny fenton #danny phantom #batman #bruce wayne #justice league #summoning ritual #gone right #dcxdp #dpxdc #Batman’s instant adoption tendencies #I wanted to write more heroes but tbh they’re a lot of work #red Robin #raven teen titans #nightwing #tim drake #dick grayson #bamf danny phantom #dc impulse #kid flash #tbh I have trouble with the speedsters #I love them #but they mess up the timelines like crazy #clockwork #this was written listening to the original teen titans theme song #bc it was my goddamn childhood ok #beast boy #garfield something something